‘I don’t feel like an osteopath at all’: Professional identities of final year osteopathy students
Item
- Title
- ‘I don’t feel like an osteopath at all’: Professional identities of final year osteopathy students
- Author(s)
- Clarkson, Holly
- Abstract
- BackgroundA growing body of research suggests that professional identity has implications for professionalism, patient care and profession identity. Evidence suggests that professional identity develops in professional education and continues into working life. Professional osteopaths’ professional identities and conceptions of practice have been outlined. The professional identities of osteopathic students are yet to be elucidated. ObjectivesTo explore and describe final year osteopathic students’ professional identities and how these identities develop. Alongside existing research this may provide valuable information relevant to educators, curriculum planners and the osteopathic governing body the General Osteopathic Council. MethodSemi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of eight final year osteopathy students from two United Kingdom based Osteopathic Education Institutions. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and constructivist grounded theory was used as a framework to conceptualise, collect and analyse data. This included; coding, memo writing, concurrent analysis and diagramming. ResultsParticipants’ professional identities varied and were particularly outlined by their thoughts and beliefs around their approach to patients, the osteopathic profession, learning experience and practice skills. There was also variation in the stages of development of participants’ professional identities which lay on a continuum ranging from ‘under construction’ to ‘constructed’. ConclusionsThe findings suggest that final year osteopathy students’ professional identities vary. The attributes which both defined individuals’ professional identities and gave the most differentiation between them had implications for patient care and satisfaction, clinical decision making, patient participation, treatment outcomes and profession identity. The different stages of professional identity development constructed are in accordance with role transition and professional identity development theory. Strong professional identity development has positive connotations for students’ confidence in practice, well-being and career success as well as profession identity.
- presented at
- British College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Date Accepted
- 2017
- Date Submitted
- 12.11.2018 14:57:13
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Number of pages
- 53
- Submitted by:
- 4457
- Pub-Identifier
- 16244
- Inst-Identifier
- 1076
- Keywords
- clinical approach, grounded theory, learning experience, osteopathy, professional identity, students
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Clarkson, Holly, “‘I don’t feel like an osteopath at all’: Professional identities of final year osteopathy students”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed April 29, 2024, https://www.osteopathic-research.com/s/orw/item/1982